Since its beginnings 20 years ago, the Technical Field Service (TFS) has undergone many changes, but the basic tasks have remained the same: The colleagues at the TFS look after IT workplaces in Germany.
The TFS arose from an IT outsourcing project in 1999, in which DATAGROUP took over the rollout in the cultural administration. In the course of this project, the wish emerged for a partner who could support IT workstations on site. The Technicasl Field Service was established. The range of tasks was broad from the very beginning and to this day covers the entire client lifecycle: from hardware procurement, installation, relaocation, adding, updating and modification of new software and hardware to the proper disposal (IMAC/RD). In addition, the TFS also handles the packaging of software and the sets up customer clients.
Servicetechniker Gerhard Böhmler aus Stuttgart war von Anfang an dabei und erinnert sich: „Wie haben mit einer recht kleinen Anzahl an Technikern begonnen, die die gesamte Bandbreite der Aufgaben abgedeckt haben. Im Laufe der Jahre sind wir immer größer geworden, haben immer mehr Arbeitsplätze betreut und uns im Team zunehmend spezialisiert. Aktuell betreuen wir aus Leinfelden heraus rund 50.000 Arbeitsplätze. Aber das Teamgefühl der ersten Zeit, das ist immer noch da, genauso wie die Freiräume, seine Aufträge selbstbestimmt zu erledigen.“
Service Technicial Gerhard Böhmler from Stuttgart was there from the very beginning and remembers: “We atarted with a rather small number of technicians who covered the entire range of tasks. Over the years, we have grown, looked after more and more workplaces and became increasingly specialised within the team. We currently look after around 50,000 workplaces from Leinfelden. But team spirit from those early days is still there, as well as the freedom to work your tasks independently.”
Some things have changed radically over the last 20 years. Cloning, i.e. the refuelling of end devices with the right software, is now carried out in the new premises in Leinfelden near Stuttgart via a modern cloning line. Up to 300 can be cloned in parallel and in 3-shift operation. A big difference from the beginnings. “We used to have a mobile cloning server in a van,” says Gerhard Böhmler. “We drove to the customer and could clone the devices in the car.”
Over time, the team grew, as did the number of workplaces supprted. Many custromers from the early days are still loyal to the TFS today or returned to the TFS after short interruptions. This growth is also reflected in the fact that in 2019, the team in Baden-Württemberg moved to new premises in Leinfelden near Stuttgart. On a storage area of more than 4,500m2 ther is space for the hardware for rollouts, repair processing and the spare parts warehouse for customers.
Christoph Voelter, Head of Technical Field Service about Leinfelden: “We can now dovetail the individual specialists much better: Logistics, cloning, roll-out and repair can work hand in hand, so customers don’t have to worry about their IT – it just works.
